England Women thrash Netherlands to keep Euros hopes alive – as Wales on the brink of exit

England Women have convincingly beaten the Netherlands to keep their Euros hopes alive. But Wales are on the brink of exiting the competition.

Sarina Wiegman’s England came into the tournament as defending champions, but slumped to a 2-1 defeat against France in their opening match on Saturday.

In their second game against the Netherlands, the Lionesses took a commanding lead in the must-win tie, and it ended up being a thrashing.

However, it was a less successful night for Wales who fell to a 4-1 loss to group leaders France.

While technically still in with a chance of qualifying, Wales now need a huge victory over England when the two sides meet on Sunday and results elsewhere to go their way.

Lionesses roar

England’s Lauren James, freshly returned from injury, starred in the 4-0 victory, scoring twice before being substituted in the second half.

Georgia Stanway and Ella Toone were the other goalscorers, while FA patron Prince William was among those cheering on the team in the Stadion Letzigrund in Zurich, Switzerland.

The performance was much-needed, as a loss would have left their campaign on a knife-edge, relying on results elsewhere.

Going into the competition, the England camp was hit by a series of setbacks as three senior players pulled out for differing reasons.

England will play Wales in their third and final group game on Sunday 13 July.

Speaking to the BBC after the game, James said: “I enjoyed it a lot, the goals say it all.

“We bounced back from the previous game and showed we were more than capable [of] showing the world what we can do.”

Fellow goalscorer Stanway said: “I’ve always said, and said the other day, this is about showing who we are. We fought from the very first minute to the very last.”

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Wiegman, who has also led her native Netherlands to Euros glory, lauded her team’s response after losing against France.

Speaking at a news conference after the game, Wiegman said: “I’m very happy with the performance, we bounced back really well from France.

“How the team responded today was really good.”

Sir Keir Starmer, an Arsenal fan, also celebrated the win with a post on X that said it was a “phenomenal” performance.

Wales lose 4-1

Meanwhile, Wales lost 4-1 to France, who now top the group.

It has left Rhian Wilkinson’s side almost certain to exit the tournament – barring a major upset in the final group games.

Not only do Wales need to beat England by a significant margin, they also need France to defeat the Netherlands.

After going behind early on, Wales drew level through Jess Fishlock in the 13th minute after a VAR check, giving France a scare.

Fishlock’s historic goal was her country’s first-ever goal at a major tournament.

However, individual errors from Wales cost them, and helped France pull ahead and ultimately win the game.

Euro 2025 has been Wales Women’s first major tournament, and they were drawn into a strong group.